More Adventures in 2018

A couple of weeks before Christmas, my husband and I were able to meet for lunch while the kids were at school. This is one of my favorite things about this stage of parenting. Day-dates are the best!

As we ate yummy food at our favorite restaurant, we began talking about our plans for 2018. We have several home related projects we want to complete and prioritizing those to match our budget involves some strategy. And, as we looked towards the future, it struck us both that in a little over 4 years our oldest child will be graduating from high school. I’m pretty sure when our waitress came over to check on us she was wondering why this cheerful, happy couple was suddenly sitting there looking pained.

That’s when the conversation began to shift. And we realized that maybe we’ve been a bit too focused on the wrong things. You see, we’re responsible sort of people. We try to make good, wise choices. We save and plan and invest and stay out of debt and give generously. We work hard, take care of our home, coach teams, volunteer at school, help with homework. We’re doers.

But, somewhere along the line I think that we’ve been so careful about being so careful, we’ve begun to run the risk of going through our lives with something missing.

Something called…adventure.

So, as we were finishing our lunch, I looked at the love of my life and said, “I think our family needs more adventure in 2018. I think it’s great to want to finish house projects but we are running out of time with these kids and we need to fill these years with as many memories as possible. We need to take risks and laugh big and see more of the world. We will never regret inviting more adventure into our lives and if that means I don’t get new counters for awhile then so be it.”

And I watched as my adventure-loving husband’s eyes lit up with a sparkle I hadn’t really seen there in awhile. He said, “Well, I was actually thinking about how fun it would be to go on a snowmobile excursion while we’re in Central Oregon after Christmas.”

To which I replied, “BOOK IT!”

December 28 we woke up very early and made our way to the base of Mt. Bachelor where we were to begin our snowmobile adventure. I’d never driven one but I have driven many an SUV and also a jet ski so I thought I knew what to expect. For the sake of weight distribution, my son was to sit behind me and my daughter and husband would be on the other snowmobile.

After some instructions and a few test runs we were off!

And, friends, let me just tell you, I don’t think I even realized just how much I truly needed more adventure in my life until I was flying over the snow listening to my teenage son laughing in the seat behind me as we weaved our way through some of the most beautiful landscape I’ve ever seen.

In all of the everydayness of mom life, I had forgotten just how much I love trying something new….and going really fast!

There were these moments when we would find ourselves on a perfectly flat path lined with trees and we were able to just let the snowmobiles run and boy did I ever take advantage of it. I even impressed the 14 year old which scored me some cool mom points.

And, when one hour into our adventure, the guide led us higher and higher until he found the perfect overlook, we had the chance to just stop and marvel at the absolute majesty of the mountain and soak in the beauty of this perfect moment in time.

When our two hours were up, all I could think about was what a memory we had just made and how one adventure makes you thirsty for more adventures.

And about how while there is so much in our lives that we can’t control, so many areas where we have to be responsible…the jobs and the homework and the housework and all of the life stuff…what we CAN control is how we approach all of that in between time.

Our kids are at ages now where it is easier than ever to open the world to them and I’m pretty sure that they would rather experience all that life has to offer than have a bathroom makeover. That’s not to say that we won’t be trying to tackle that too, but it just simply isn’t as big of a priority for us right now.

There will be lots of time in the future for beautiful rooms.

But, times like these? Just the four of us exploring this beautiful world we live in?

We won’t have that forever. So, that’s my dream for 2018.

More us.

More fun.

More exploring.

More laughing.

More adventure.

More of it all.

And, what about you, are you making plans for more adventure in your life this year? What is one thing you want to do? I’d love to hear about it!

Thank you for meeting me at the fence today sweet friends,